The week in your words: ISP anger, Phorm fury and BBC

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 4 Apr 2008 at 18:02

In a week that saw the Carphone Warehouse lash out at the music industry's three strikes proposal, BT get lashed over its Phorm trial, and BBC threatening ISPs with the lash, we take a look back to see what our readers have made of it all.

Carphone Warehouse blasts "three strikes" proposal

Carphone Warehouse isn't happy about the music industry's plan to strike illegal filesharers off the internet, a position it made clear to the British Phonographic Institute in an angry letter which included a flurry of irate words including "unreasonable", "internet police" and "foist". That noise you can hear in the background are the cheers coming from our forums.

"We need more ISPs like TalkTalk standing up to the music industry. I'm by no means condoning music sharing, but what the music industry is doing is much worse," reckons hdasmith.

"Well Done Carphone Warehouse! The BPI need to be made to realise that it's the only ones on which the onus falls to take action and pay for the action to prosecute alleged illegal file-sharing. If it wants somebody's internet connection shut down then it can pay the lawyers and the courts for a court order," says 23522.

"Good on the Carphone Warehouse - if only more ISPs would follow the example they have set," applauds nibloe.

But as with every giddy climb, the only thing Carphone Warehouse found at the end was a long drop, and gullyg waiting at the bottom to pull the mattress away.

"Just a pity it's in bed with phorm," he notes icily.

"I agree with its stance against the BPI but I doubt its motives," says wolfie2. "No ISP wants to be throwing away customers, Carphone Warehouse is already losing enough through its poor service so I feel this is a way for it to attract some positive publicity. It isn't standing up for the consumer, it's being as selfish as ever."

Ouch.

Yet another BT Phorm trial revealed

And speaking of Phorm, this week it was revealed that after initially being embarrassed after being caught out conducting secret trails of the advertising technology in 2007, it turns out BT had already had a crack at it back in 2006. pcernie summed up forum feelings rather well.

"Big business these days really is just dumb, isn't it? BT, which makes a lot of money out of this new fangled interweb thing, couldn't even foresee the storm this would bring from its own users - never mind the articles, bloggers..."

jimexbox was feeling equally unforgiving. "BT is a disgrace, it seems to treat its customers with utter contempt. A mass desertion from BT broadband is in order."

Amnesia10 was hoping for rather more. "A big court case that attracts the attention of the Daily Mail will be most damaging. BT can explain away a mass of users leaving through competition."

Double ouch.

BBC threatens ISPs with blacklist

It wasn't only our forum members taking a dig at ISPs this week, with the BBC warning it may consider blacklisting any ISPs that attempt to shape traffic in response to the success of its iPlayer.